This Wednesday on Criminal Minds (CBS, 9/8c), a ray of light will slip into Hotch’s regularly dark world when he and Beth, the museum curator (played by Dirty Sexy Money‘s Bellamy Young) whom he first met in a mid-December episode, kiss for the first time — and TVLine has an exclusive first look at the moment right before their sweet clinch.

Giving even more magnitude to the moment — which comes at the close of this week’s typically intense hour, as they embark on their first full-on date — is the fact that it’s the first time Thomas Gibson‘s Agent Hotchner has locked lips with a woman since his ex-wife Haley (played by Meredith Monroe) died in Season 5, at the hands of serial killer George Foyet.

Beneath the photo, you’ll also find a clip of Hotch working his way around to finally asking Beth out. Cute stuff.